Optometer.



PATENTED AUG. 9, 1904. H. C. PAUL.

OPTOMETBR.

A APPLIOATIOR FILED-AFR. a, 1904. .xo MODEL.

Witnesses:

fizvcvzzorx vfw/ (p, I ms@waew'm w Ai y UNITED STATES Patented August 9,1904.

HARRY C. PAUL, OF CHICAGO, I ILLINOIS.

OPTOMETER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 766,969, dated August9, 1904:.

Application filed April 9, 1904:. Serial No. 202,348. (No model.)

. To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HARRY C. PAUL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Optometers, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in optometers; and the object of myimprovements is to provide a device of the character hereinafter morefully described that will be inexpensive to manufacture, of lightweight, durable in use, and compact when folded, so that it may be sentthrough the mails at slight cost, and thereby enable parties to testtheir eyes and order spectacles by mail from the optician sending themthe optometer.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device embodying myinvention as adjusted for use; Fig. 2, a view in elevation of same; Fig.3, an edge view of the device folded for transportation; Fig. 1, a planview of a lens-holder employed in my invention; Fig. 5, across-sectional view of the lensholder, taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4;and Fig. 6, a plan view of a revolving target employed in the deviceembodying my invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 1 and 1 represent two strips ofsuitable thin, light, and strong material, preferably cardboard, the endof one strip being pivoted by a pivot 2 to one end of the other strip,permitting the strips to be folded on the same plane with their outerends adjacent, as indicated in Fig. 3.

The numeral 3 indicates a lens-holder consisting, preferably, of acircular piece of cardboard and having a greater diameter than twice thedistance between the eyes and provided with a central opening and hingedto the outer or free end of the strip 1 by means of a piece of cloth 1or other suitable flexible material secured with adhesive material tothe inside of said lens-holder and to the under side of the end of thestrip 1 in such manner that the holder may be folded against the underside of and parallel with the strip 1, as indicated by the dotted linesin Fig. 2 of the drawings. 011 the inside of the lens-holder 3 oppositethe opening 3 is a lens 5. secured 5 to the holder by a piece of cloth6, which has a central opening registering with the opening in theholder and which has its peripheral edge extending beyond the peripheryof the lens and adhered to the holder.

1 is a small piece of cardboard hinged to the outer end of strip 1 bymeans of a piece of cloth 42, secured with adhesive material to the saidpiece of cardboard 1 and to the under side of the outer end of strip 1.

7 indicates a target consisting, preferably, of a circular piece ofcardboard secured to the piece of cardboard 1 by means of a rivet 8,which passes through the piece of cardboard 1" and the piece of cloth 1and through the center of the target 7 in such manner that the lattermay revolve on the rivet or be folded against and lie parallel with thestrip 1, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. The inside of thetarget is divided by lines 9 into twelve sections, designated by lettersof the alphabet from A to L, inclusive. In each of said sections arealso printed one or more words near the peripheral edge of the target.The letters comprising said words gradually increase in size in eachsection from A to Ii, as shown in Fig. 6.

To test the eyes with this device, the latter is held in the positionshown in Fig. 1, with the lens near the eye. The target is thenrevolved, so that the words in the several sections on the target may beseen through the lens with one eye only at a time, so as to ascertainWhich section contains the smallest letters that can be distinctly seenin the manner stated, and from this information the optician will beable to select glasses suitable to the patient.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is,

1. An optometer comprising two flat strips of cardboard, the end of onestrip being hinged to an end of the other strip, a lens-holder hinged tothe outer end of one of the strips and having a central openingtherethrough, and adapted to be folded parallel with the strip, a lenssecured to one side of the disk opposite the opening in the latter, acircular target riveted to the outer end of the other strip and adaptedto revolve on said rivet or to fold parallel with the strip, the side ofthe target next to the strip being divided by lines 7 into severalsections each designated by an ing, and a revolving target pivoted tothe outer end of the other strip and adapted to fold parallel therewith.

3. In a device of the character stated, a strip of suitable material, alens-holder hinged to one end of the strip and having an openingtherethrough, and a revolving target pivoted to the opposite end of thestrip.

4. In a device of the character stated, a strip of suitable material, apiece of cardboard or the like hinged to one end of said strip andhaving an opening therethrough and adapted to fold parallel with thestrip, and a revolving target secured to the opposite end of the strip,and adapted to fold parallel therewith, the inside of the target beingdivided into sections bounded by diverging lines, each sectioncontaining characters varying in size from the characters in the othersections.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in PH. D. PAUL, O. K. TRneo.

